US5797859A - Massager for producing rotary/vibratory massage motion, using a single motor - Google Patents

Abstract

A massager for producing rotary and/or vibratory massage motion includes a base structure, a support plate with a contact surface and a mounting surface, and resilient mounts for coupling the support plate to the base structure. At least one rotator structure is associated with the contact surface of the support plate and includes massage members extending therefrom. A motor is attached to the mounting surface of the support plate and manifests a first direction rotary output and a counter direction rotary output. A gear structure couples the motor to the at least one rotator structure to cause rotary movement thereof, upon actuation of the motor. The massager includes an eccentric weight and a clutch system for driveably coupling the eccentric weight to the motor when the motor produces a first direction rotary output; and for decoupling the eccentric weight from the motor when the motor produces the counter-direction rotary output. In such manner, the single motor operates both the rotator structure and the eccentric weight and enables combined rotary/vibratory motion to be achieved.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a massage apparatus for producing rotary and/or vibratory massage motions and, more particularly, to a massager which employs only a single motor for producing such massage motions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Massage units which employ movable ball-like members have been known in the prior art for many years. U.S. Pat. No. 1,557,417 to Cheney discloses a massage apparatus wherein multiple balls or cones are maintained on a turntable which is rotated by a worm gear/planar gear arrangement. When the balls are placed in contact with a portion of the body and an included motor is energized, the turntable rotates, causing the balls to also rotate, both with the turntable and within their individual housings. This action produces the massage action.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,777,151 to Ruttger-Pelli also discloses a turntable-like massager with plural, individually rotatable balls. Either the entire turntable can be caused to rotate or just the individual ball members themselves, to achieve a massage action.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,899,208 to Murphy describes a massage machine wherein plural ball members are mounted on axles which are, in turn, journaled onto a circular, rotatable plate. When a motor causes the plate to rotate, the balls also rotate on their respective axles and create a massage action.

Other forms of massage movement are also known in the prior art. For instance, many massagers employ a motor to drive an eccentric weight which creates a vibratory massage motion. U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,078 to Fulop describes a massager including an electric motor-driven eccentric cam which, in turn, drives a moving member in a reciprocating, translational in motion. A hand grip is mounted on opposed ends of the moving member and when the massager is held by two hands, the housing reciprocates in a translational motion relative to the hand grips and imparts a massage action to both the hands and the arms.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a massager which includes provision for both rotary and vibratory massage actions.

It is another object of this invention to provide a massager for producing rotary and/or vibratory massage motion that can be produced economically.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an improved massager which needs only a single motor to provide both rotary and/or vibratory massage motions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A massager for producing rotary and/or vibratory massage motion includes a base structure, a support plate with a contact surface and a mounting surface, and resilient mounts for coupling the support plate to the base structure. At least one rotator structure is associated with the contact surface of the support plate and includes massage members extending therefrom. A motor is attached to the mounting surface of the support plate and manifests a first direction rotary output and a counter direction rotary output. A gear structure couples the motor to the at least one rotator structure to cause rotary movement thereof, upon actuation of the motor. The massager includes an eccentric weight and a clutch system for driveably coupling the eccentric weight to the motor when the motor produces a first direction rotary output; and for decoupling the eccentric weight from the motor when the motor produces the counter-direction rotary output. In such manner, the single motor operates both the rotator structure and the eccentric weight and enables combined rotary/vibratory massage motion to be achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a massager incorporating the invention hereof.

FIG. 1(a) is a schematic showing of a rocker switch which can be foot operated to cause the massager of FIG. 1 to either produce combined rotary and vibratory massage or just rotary massage.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a support plate included in the massager of FIG. 1 after it has been removed from a base structure thereof, showing the apparatus mounted on the mounting side of the support plate.

FIG. 2a is an isometric view of rotator structures, gearing, a motor and an eccentric weight which are attached to the underside of the support plate of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the support plate of FIG. 2, taken alongline 3--3 (with base structure included).

FIG. 4 is a sectional view the support plate of FIG. 2, taken along line 4--4, with base structure removed.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the support plate of FIG. 3, taken alongline 5--5, with base structure removed.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a massage rotator structure utilized with the invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of an eccentric weight/clutch device employed with the invention.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate the manner of clutching and declutching that occur, in dependence on the direction of rotation of a shaft output from an attached motor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Initially, it should understood that while the invention is to be hereafter described in the context of a foot massager, that the inventive concepts hereof are equally applicable to a massage apparatus which can be applied to any part of the body, wherein both rotary and vibratory massage are desired.

Referring to FIG. 1,massager 10 includes afoot support plate 12 which is resiliently mounted onto abase structure 14 which, in turn, includes plural feet 16 that enablemassager 10 to rest on a flat surface. Extending throughsupport plate 12 areplural rotator structures 18 and 20, each rotator structure including two pairs of rotatable balls, 22 and 24.Balls 22 manifest larger diameters thanballs 24. Each ofballs 22 and 24 is adapted to independently rotate, but is constrained to rotation in one plane by a shaft which passes therethrough (not shown in FIG. 1).

Rotating structures 18 and 20 are rotatably mounted insupport plate 12 and, when driven by a motor contained withinmassager 10, are adapted to counter rotate so as to provide a massage action by interaction of the balls with the soles of feet placed thereupon. The upper surface ofsupport plate 12 is provided with plural fixedbumps 26 which enable a vibratory action to be imparted to the soles of the feet whenmassager 10 is controlled to provide a vibratory massage action.

Arocker switch 28 may be foot operated (see FIG. 1a) to enable either only rotary operation ofrotator structures 18 and 20 or to enable a vibratory action to be applied torotatory structures 18 and 20 (while they rotate), in addition to causing the entire upper surface ofsupport plate 12 to vibrate.

Turning now to FIG. 2,base structure 14 has been removed from themassager 10, thus allowing the underside mounting surface ofsupport plate 12 to be viewed. FIG. 2(a) will also be referred to in the discussion below as it illustrates, in a perspective manner, the apparatus coupled to the mounting surface ofsupport plate 12. Amotor 30 is attached to the mounting surface ofsupport plate 12 and includes ashaft 32 which extends in opposite directions frommotor 30. Aworm gear 34 couples, through a pair of planarrotary gears 36 and 38, torotary structures 18 and 20 (see FIG. 2a). In FIG. 2, acasing 40 coversworm gear 34,planar gears 36 and 38 and obscures them from the view. Aheater wire 33 is affixed to the mounting surface ofsupport plate 12 and when energized by connection to a power source (e.g., via switch 28), enables application of heat to the soles of feet placed on the upper surface ofsupport plate 12.

The gearstructure comprising gears 34, 36 and 38 enables rotary motion to be imparted torotator structures 18 and 20 whenmotor 30 rotates in either a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction. However, as will be hereafter understood, aneccentric weight 42, which is mounted for rotation onshaft 32, either freewheels onshaft 32 when it rotates in a first direction or is driven to rotate byshaft 32 when it moves in a counter-rotating direction. Afan 44 provides cooling action tomotor 30 whenshaft 32 rotates.

Turning to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, sectional views taken alonglines 3--3, 4--4, and 5--5, respectively, will be described. In each of the Figures, the elements that are common to those shown in FIGS. 1, 1a, 2 and 2a are identically numbered. Note thatmotor 30 is fixedly attached to the mounting side ofsupport plate 12. Further,support plate 12 includes four downwardly extendingstruts 50 which positionally mate with four upwardly extendingstruts 52 frombase structure 14. Each pair of mating struts 50 and 52 is coupled, via screw fittings, by aresilient post 54. thereto. In such manner,support plate 12 and all of the members attached thereto are resiliently supported byposts 54 so as enable vibratory movement ofsupport plate 12, independent ofbase structure 14.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 in FIG. 2 and illustrates the mode of attachment ofmotor 30 to support 12 (via screw fittings 55). Further,rotator structure housing 40 is coupled to supportplate 12 via screw fittings 57 (see also FIG. 5).

In FIG. 5, the mode of attachment ofrotator structures 18 and 20 togears 38, and 36 respectively, is illustrated. Anaxle 59 extends downwardly from each rotator structure and is rigidly coupled to an associatedplanar gear 38, 36. In such manner, whenmotor 30 rotatesworm gear 34 in either direction,planar gears 36 and 38 are driven and causeaxles 59 to counter-rotaterotating structures 18 and 20.

Turning to FIG. 6, an exploded view of a rotator structure (e.g. 18) is illustrated.Axle 59 extends into alower cover 61 which includesplural openings 58 for receiving pairs ofballs 22 and 24, respectively. Support struts 60 extend from the bottom of lower cover 56 to acylindrical support 62 and provide structural rigidity forlower cover 61.Upper cover 64 is also provided withopenings 66 to receive pairs ofballs 22, 24.Slots 68 extend from each ofopenings 66 and serve to confineaxles 70 which extend through pairs ofballs 24, 22.

Whenlower cover 61 is brought together withupper cover 64, pairs ofballs 22 and 24 are maintained in position thereby and enableshafts 70 to engageslots 68 and prevent rotational movement ofball members 22 and 24, except in planes orthogonal to theirrespective shafts 70. In such manner, when arotator structure 18 is rotated, not only doball members 22, 24 rotate withstructure 18, but they also independently rotate about theirrespective shafts 70 and, due to the confining action thereof, create both a rolling and a frictional engagement with the soles of feet placed uponsupport plate 12.

To this point, the mechanism for providing rotary massage motion, through the action ofrotator structures 18 and 20 has been described. Hereafter, a mechanism for providing either combined rotary and vibratory massage actions or just a rotary massage action will be described. FIG. 7 illustrates an exploded view of a clutch/eccentric weight structure 42.Shaft 32 extends therethrough and is pinned to asleeve member 80 through correspondingpin openings 82. Aslider bearing 84 extends fromsleeve 80 and fits into aslot 86 within slider/clutch 88. A pair of engagement surfaces 90 and 92 are formed on the outer periphery of slider/clutch 88 and are positioned at terminal ends of camming surfaces 94 and 96, respectively.

Slider/clutch 88 fits within arecess 100 withineccentric weight 102. The weight ofeccentric weight 102 can be varied by the insertion ofscrews 104 into receiving holes therein. Withinrecess 100 is ashoulder 106 which, in combination withengagement surfaces 90 and 92, provides a clutching action whenshaft 32 rotates in a clockwise direction and, a declutching action whenshaft 32 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction.

The operation of the clutching action will be better understood by reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. In FIG. 8, counter-clockwise rotation ofshaft 32 is illustrated. Under such condition, slider/clutch 88 moves laterally along slider bearing 84 to enable engagement of one of camming surfaces 94 or 96 with the internal surface of 110 ofrecess 100. As a result, there is no transfer of motion betweenshaft 32 andeccentric weight 102, andeccentric weight 102 remains relatively motionless. By contrast (see FIG.9), whenshaft 32 rotates in a clockwise direction, slider/clutch 86 extends laterally to a point where anengagement surface 90 or 92 makes contact withshoulder 106 and causes the rotary motion ofshaft 32 to be imparted toeccentric weight 102. As a result, the eccentricity ofweight 102 causes a vibratory motion to be imparted tomotor 30 which, in turn, causes substantial vibratory motion to be imparted to supportplate 12 and any foot positioned thereon.

As can thus be seen, through foot control ofswitch 28, the direction of rotation ofmotor 30 can be controlled to be in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. The counter-clockwise action results in only rotary massage motion byrotator structures 18 and 20 due to the decoupling ofweight 102 fromshaft 32. In the case of clockwise rotation ofmotor 30,rotator structures 18 and 20 are rotated (but in the opposite direction) and a vibratory action is applied to supportplate 12 becauseweight 102 is now driven byshaft 32. The attachment of the motor and gear arrangement to the mounting surface ofsupport plate 12 and the mass they add to supportplate 12, substantially enhance the vibratory massage action. Only a single motor is required to impart both of these actions, thereby resulting in a reduced cost device.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (12)

I claim:

1. A massager for producing rotary and/or vibratory massage action comprising:

a base structure;

a support plate with a contact surface and a mounting surface;

means for resiliently mounting said support plate to said base structure;

at least one rotator structure associated with said contact surface and having massage members extending therefrom;

a motor attached to said mounting surface and manifesting a first rotary output and a counter rotary output;

gear means attached to said mounting surface, for coupling said motor to said at least one rotator structure to cause a rotary movement thereof upon actuation of said motor;

an eccentric weight; and

clutch means for driveably coupling said eccentric weight to said motor when said motor produces said first rotary output and for decoupling said eccentric weight from said motor when said motor produces said counter rotary output.

2. The massager as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said massage members is mounted for independent rotary movement.

3. The massager as recited in claim 2, wherein said at least one rotator structure comprises:

a cylindrical structure having plural apertures in a planar major end surface;

plural spheres positioned within said cylindrical structure, each sphere extending through at least one of said plural apertures, each sphere mounted to rotate on a shaft; and

support means for rotatably mounting each shaft within said cylindrical structure.

4. The massager as recited in claim 3, wherein said support means causes each said shaft to be positioned coincident with a radius of said cylindrical structure.

5. The massager as recited in claim 4, wherein said cylindrical structure extends though an aperture in said support plate so that each of said spheres extends above said support surface.

6. The massager as recited in claim 4, wherein some of said plural spheres exhibit a diameter different from others of said plural spheres so as to provide an enhanced massage action.

7. The massager as recited in claim 1, wherein both said eccentric weight and said clutch means are positioned on a shaft extending from said motor, said eccentric weight rotatably mounted on said shaft and having a shoulder, said clutch means further comprising:

a slider engaged to rotate with said shaft and mounted for movement transverse to a long axis of said shaft, said slider having an engagement surface which engages said shoulder when said shaft is rotated by said first rotary output of said motor.

8. The massager as recited in claim 7, wherein said slider includes a cam surface which moves over said shoulder in a non-engaging manner when said shaft is rotated by said counter rotary output of said motor.

9. The massager as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a switch mounted on said base structure and positioned for actuation by a user's foot, said switch having one position which causes said motor to produce said first rotary output, and a second position which causes said motor to produce said counter rotary output.

10. The massager as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

a switch mounted on said base structure and positioned for actuation by a user's foot, said switch having one position which causes said motor to produce said first rotary output, and a second position which causes said motor to produce said counter rotary output.

11. The massager as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

heater means associated with said support plate for selectively applying heat to said support surface.

12. The massager as recited in claim 11, wherein said heater means comprises a heater wire affixed to said mounting surface of said support plate.

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